00041: In which one may witness the wordy shenanigans I get up to when I get stuck . . .

Hello, dear reader.

Not gonna lie, I really struggled with what to write here in my first post¹. Many false starts over many days, and here we are.

(Spoiler: I'm still struggling. '^^ What follows is not eloquent. You've been warned. XD)

Apart from the usual mild terror of publishing any of my writing — separate from the other usual mild terror of doing anything publically on the internet, full stop —, I have the other other usual mild terror² of just not being able to write. '^^

Most people call this writer's block.

Now, writer's block is kind of a touchy subject in writing circles. This is partly because some people say that it's not even a thing.

Me? I'm not really sure what to think on that front. Other people have Thoughts™️ on the matter — and have expressed their opinions at great length and in no uncertain detail. XD All I know is that, no matter what it's called, from time to time, I just get stuck.

Luckily, in the case of this post, I know what the problem is. And, perhaps surprisingly, it's not actually because of any terrors (usual, mild, or otherwise).

(Well, okay, it's not only because of any terrors. '^^)

The reason I'm stuck is simply that I'm rusty. I haven't written anything — I mean, anything that is meant to be read by eyes other than my own that is more difficult than, say, a text message — in a while. And so now, when it comes to writing, the gears in my mental machine are so crusty with rust, they're causing a kind of juddering, shuddering strain in my brain. >_<

(How many ways can I slather some more rhyme onto this piece of post? XP)

(How many more ridiculous metaphors can I come up with? XD

* glasses gleam * Challenge accepted!)

In other words, this is not an emotional "I'm too scared to show my writing to others" problem; this is a mental "the writing hamster in my head has gotten so scrawny from hibernating, she can barely budge her wheel" problem. XD Poor puny thing — her name is Graphe, by the way (that's "GRAFF-fee" — sounds like "Daphne") — needs to bulk up. Girl's gotta go lift some heavy hamster weights! XD

And what do I need to do to help my humble hamster get beautifully buff?

(How many ways can I drizzle some more alliteration onto this blog bread? XD)

It is, simply, to write. To write, to write, and to write some more.

Just as one gets better at lifting weights by lifting weights, one gets better at writing by, well, writing.

Now, if only I had a kind of mental weightlifting gym where I could put Graphe through her paces, to work out her writing-wheel muscles, every day and, oh, say, "weigh" her once a week to see — and show ("accountability"? what's that? XD) — how she's doing. . . .

Oh, wait. XDDD

Week 1 Weigh-In: Hmmm. . . . Graphe, let us just say that we have some more work(ing out) to do, you and I. '^^